The 10 Next Hot Skyscrapers You Won't Find in Dubai

When it comes to tall buildings, all eyes are on the Burj Dubai. That's because this month it became the tallest structure in the world—and it's not even done yet. But across the world architects have already come up with mega engineering plans vying to be equally mind-blowing. From shortest to tallest, here are our favorite 10 favorite skyscrapers under construction whose radical designs and eco-friendly architecture make up for a lack of height.

The Bow

The Bow

The Bow gets its name from the tower's unique, curving shape. When it's completed it will be Calgary's first steel skyscraper, which means it'll use significantly less material, as a steel frame does away with the need for a multitude of weaker supports built into load-bearing walls. It will also be Calgary's tallest building, and the green-minded team at Fosters and Partners built it to be environmentally sustainable. Three sky lobbies spaced about 18 floors apart divide it into three zones for business, shopping and leisure, and a southward atrium spans the entirety of the Bow's facade, which will expose the inside to plenty of sun and help warm it during Canadian winters. Energy is also saved by the amount of light the Bow's heavily-windowed structure lets in, meaning more natural illumination and less of the artificial stuff.

9. Beekman Tower

9. Beekman Tower

The Beekman Tower looks astonishingly mundane next to some of Frank Gehry's signature creations (just take a gander at his warped—and awesome—Dancing House in Prague). That is until you notice the little details. The Beekman Tower's stainless-steel surface ripples in a pleasant way thanks to the cascading layers of its staggered units. The curving of the exterior will make for irregular floors, and no two if its stories will be exactly the same.

Its facade is not its only charming quirk: It's being built upon a 6-story, brick public school that'll offer Pre-K through the 8th grade. The tower itself will house retail space, offices for the nearby New York Downtown Hospital and plenty of apartments of different sizes. Things are more staid inside, though. While Gehry designed the building's exterior, he didn't touch the interiors: "I don't like architecture that intrudes on lifestyle," Gehry told The Real Deal. "The generation of architects] before me used to design everything, and I don't like that."